Aircraft Testing

WING FALL PROTECTION SYSTEM TESTING

A large aircraft company called upon Gravitec to test a fall protection system that they designed for the wings of their aircraft. Maintenance personnel would be exposed to fall hazards of up 15 feet while working on the leading and trailing edges of the wing. The company requested testing be performed using a full-scale test specimen of the fall protection system.

CHALLENGES

It was necessary to create a set of connections, also known as hardpoints, that mimicked the locations of hardpoints on the wing in order to capture the data required by the client. A jig would have to be designed and fabricated that had the appropriate hardpoints, so accurate testing could be performed. The tests had to be extensive and precise; the company wanted load readings at 8 different points, as well as video footage that measured movement (how far and in what direction) of the system at each interconnection point.

SOLUTIONS

Gravitec designed and fabricated the jig, complete with the exact layout of load points found on the wing of aircrafts. Gravitec created customized testing software that enabled us to receive eight load readings simultaneously and display them in real time, as well as write the data to an Excel file.

END RESULT

While many firms are not equipped to handle the testing of multiple load connections at once, our depth of knowledge and breadth of experience afforded us the ability to do just that. Not only was Gravitec able to provide the data the company requested, our team analyzed reactions during the testing to facilitate the collection of accurate and complete data. The company was so pleased with Gravitec’s professionalism and efficiency that they invited us out to perform additional testing on the system at a later date.